a little something
by princess amaryllis
Summary: Every year since he was three, Naruto has woken up on his birthday to find a note and a little present, and he's always wondered who it is. He finds out fourteen years later, when somebody quite nearly bleeds out on his carpet in the middle of the night. (gen. really late bday to Naruto)


**Title:** a little something

 **Summary:** Every year since he was three, Naruto has woken up on his birthday to find a note and a little present, and he's always wondered who it is. He finds out fourteen years later, when somebody quite nearly bleeds out on his carpet in the middle of the night.

.

Every year since he was three, Naruto has woken up on his birthday to find a note and a little present, and he's always wondered who it is. The anonymous person always seemed to know what Naruto had wanted those years, even the years that Naruto was off with Jiraiya-sensei. The only exception is the year of the war, but he can't blame them, if they're still alive.

(They probably don't know that Naruto's kept and treasured all of them for the past decade or so.)

But it's not the gifts that Naruto holds dear, it's the notes. They're always awkwardly worded, like someone who's not used to interacting with people. The handwriting is precise and professional, but Naruto's perused each note enough times to notice the idiosyncrasies in the way the anonymous person writes, like the way they seem to mix up the "ru" and "ro" characters occasionally from where he can see erase marks.

Naruto had never really cared about the stilted phrasing. He's always only cared about the fact that there's someone who cares for him, even if he doesn't know who.

He's always wondered who it is, though. But now, he's not even sure if the person is still alive or not, not since the war.

With a sigh, Naruto rolls over on his bed, extricating the part of the blanket that's pressed under him with mild irritation and stares at the wall, back towards the window. It's half past eleven, and he wants to sleep, but he's also a little curious about the person, and if they're still alive.

(He hopes they are.)

Naruto stiffens a little when he hears incredibly soft footsteps. The only reason he can hear them is because it's directly above his apartment on the top floor, and they seem odd, like a limp.

Suddenly, the light from the moon is obscured, and a shadow falls over Naruto's face. His heart rate accelerates, and his fingers wrap around the kunai he always sleeps with.

There's a faint sound, and a draft of cool wind sweeps into his room. The person slides in with a near inaudible wince and approaches.

Now, Naruto recognizes the person's chakra signature. "Kakashi-sensei?" he asks, voice more hoarse than he's expecting, and the person freezes.

Naruto releases the kunai, sitting up and turning towards the trespasser who has at least the decency to look sheepish and mildly apologetic. He frowns when he notices the way Kakashi's favoring his left side.

"Maa," Kakashi replies, his voice fainter than it should be. "Well, I guess it's about time the secret's out. Happy early Birthday."

He scowls, tossing his covers off. "You're the _Hokage_ , sensei. Don't tell me my _birthday_ is the reason you took that mission to Grass."

Kakashi has the audacity to laugh, swaying slightly. "Your birthday is a very important thing to celebrate, Naruto. You mentioned those sealing techniques from Uzushio, didn't you? Grass's pretty close by, so I looked around for some that originated from there…"

Naruto scrambles out of bed, steadying his sensei and pulling him onto the bed with a huff. "I'd rather you be alive for my birthday than having sealing techniques," Naruto informs Kakashi, fetching first aid equipment from the inside of his closet.

"I'll remember that next time… I think I owe you a carpet… and some new sheets," Kakashi says drowsily, gesturing sloppily at the stains.

"Yes, you do," Naruto agrees, beginning to pulling up Kakashi's shirt to get a better look at the injury, a bandage and antiseptic at the ready. "You also owe me a trip to Sakura-chan. I'm calling as soon as you're not in danger of bleeding out on my bed. This is going to hurt."

"Hmm," Kakashi replies sleepily, only occasionally jerking in pain when Naruto cleans and disinfects the injury the best he can before tying the bandage tightly and pushing Kakashi, causing him to fall over gracelessly with a tired yelp.

Naruto gathers up the ruined blankets and sidesteps the spot of blood on his carpet, tossing them into a bucket and pours peroxide into it before heading back to his room with new blankets only to see his teacher already passed out. With his shoes still on.

With a fond noise of irritation, Naruto yanks his shoes off and tosses the blankets over him, spotting an abandoned storage scroll which he assumes is Kakashi's and sets next to the bed.

It looks like he's not getting any sleep tonight, he muses as he heads to the phone and dials Sakura's number, mentally preparing himself for the rant Sakura is going to throw at him for calling her so late.

.

 **Word Count:** 777

 **a/n:** not meant to be romantic in any way btw and I didn't proofread this thing

review please? They make me happy.


End file.
